The Free Kareem website is now fully recovered from the hack that took place a few weeks ago, the toolbar and RSS feeds should now be functioning properly. Sorry for any inconvenience this may have caused to people who subscribed with us.

We would also like to take this opportunity to express our concern for Yogesh Swami, an activist in India whose friends are supporters of our Free Kareem initiative. Yogesh is currently in critical condition as a result of a major car accident that took place. He’s a Delhi-based social and youth activist. The surgery he will need to undergo is a very serious one, as the injury caused massive blood clots within the brain.

To all friends of Yogesh, especially Sandeep, thank you for supporting our friend Kareem, and for this our support for your friend Yogesh is guaranteed. We will do our best to help you wherever possible.

For more information -

Read the appeal in English (word document) or Hindi (PDF file)

Get well soon Yogesh!

The below report from the Daily Star Egypt extensively covers our partnership with the New Youth 4 campaign -

CAIRO: Arab and Chinese youth activists will be joining forces in a new Internet campaign calling for the release of imprisoned Chinese bloggers and demanding greater freedom of expression in China.

The campaign “New Youth 4” received its name after the case of the four young Chinese activists Jin Haike, Xu Wei, Yang Zili and Zhang Honghai, who in 2003 were charged with “subverting state power and the overthrowing of the socialist system” and sentenced to prison for setting up the Internet discussion group the “New Youth Society;” a forum allegedly advocating social and democratic reform.

The Beijing Intermediate People’s Court sentenced the men to long prison terms in spring 2003 ranging between eight to ten years; a verdict that has been subject to strong criticism from international rights groups, including Amnesty International and Committee to Protect Journalists.

The campaign, accessible at www.newyouth4.org, is inspired and hosted by the Free Kareem Coalition — an online project launched by Arab activists in support of the imprisoned Egyptian student blogger Kareem Amer who earlier this year was sentenced to four years in prison for defaming Islam and President Mubarak on his weblog.

“It was from watching the success of freekareem.org that we began to think that we could make a difference here in China. I contacted some friends who knew the people behind Freekareem.org and they seemed to understand at once how important our project in China was,” the New Youth 4 Coordinator who asked to remain anonymous told The Daily Star Egypt in an email interview.

Esra’a Ahmed, director of the Free Kareem Coalition told The Daily Star Egypt that the right to free speech is an “incredibly important cause to fight for,” leading her team to help set up the New Youth 4 only days after receiving the request.

Furthermore, Ahmed emphasized the importance of networking between activist communities in different parts of the world.

“Networking is extremely powerful. Today these Chinese activists need our help, tomorrow we might need theirs. We help each other and that will strengthen our campaigns and hopefully help us achieve our goals,” she said.

Both Egypt and China have come under strong criticism from rights groups for alleged web censorship and crackdowns on the countries’ so-called “cyber dissidents.”

So far in Egypt this year, Alexandrian blogger Kareem Amer has been sentenced to four years in prison for defaming Islam and President Mubarak on his Internet blog while the Brotherhood’s blogger/journalist Abdel Moneim Mahmoud was arrested in Mid-April on what appeared to be rather unclear charges. Rights groups, activists, and the Brotherhood stress that Mahmoud’s detainment was a consequence of his online writings, where he posed criticism towards the Egyptian government.

Most recently, blogger Omar Sharkawy was arrested and detained on June 11 for three days while covering alleged fraud at Egypt’s recent Shoura elections.

In late 2006, Egypt was crowned one of the worlds 13 worst Internet Enemies by Reporters Sans Frontieres (RSF) or Reporters without borders with the argument that the Egyptian authorities “display an extremely disturbing authoritarianism as regards the Internet.”

In regards to China, RSF refers to the giant in the East in a 2007 report as the “world’s most advanced country in Internet filtering.”

“The authorities carefully monitor technological progress to ensure that no new window of free expression opens up, after initially targeting websites and chat forums, they nowadays concentrate on blogs and video exchange sites. China now has nearly 17 million bloggers. Although it is an enormous number, very few of them dare to tackle sensitive issues, still less criticize government policy. Firstly, because China’s blog tools include filters that block ‘subversive’ word strings. Secondly, because the companies operating these services, both Chinese and foreign, are pressured by the authorities to control content,” RSF stated.

According to RSF figures, 52 persons are currently imprisoned for “expressing themselves too freely online.”

New Youth’s Coordinator added to The Daily Star Egypt that “speaking your mind in China can be a dangerous game.”

Furthermore, New Youth 4 emphasized that while Egypt and China differ greatly from one another in terms of geography, culture, and language, the process of silencing dissent and open discussion is “eerily similar.”

“In the cases of Egypt and China, it appears that we have weak
governments that do not understand that a nation can become stronger
through open dialogue,” they told The Daily Star Egypt.

When asked whether pressure from rights groups and activists can influence the decisions of national governments, Ahmed answers “most definitely,” highlighting the numerous rallies and campaigns organized in several world capitals by the Free Kareem Coalition.

“Thanks to worldwide rallies our team organized, many leaders, and politicians from all over the world quickly gained interest and expressed their concerns regarding Egypt’s human rights abuses,” Ahmed claimed.

New Youth’s 4 Coordinator also emphasized the importance of public pressure, stressing that “public suasion is an incredibly powerful tool.”

“We are not trying to shame the Chinese government (in this campaign). We seek to convince them to look at the case of the four bloggers. So much as hearing from other citizens of the world is very, very helpful in our endeavors,” said the coordinator.

Link to article.

Alexandra Sandels reports on further human rights violations in Egypt, noting that bloggers and activists unite for the sake of freedom of speech within the country:

CAIRO: Bloggers and activists belonging to the Muslim Brotherhood and the political opposition joined forces at a rally and conference on the defense of electronic press freedom in Egypt at the Press Syndicate in Downtown Cairo on Wednesday night.

Armed with banners, megaphones, and Egyptian flags chanting slogans like “we are forbidden to speak” and “where is our freedom?” activists staged a pre-event manifestation outside the Press Syndicate, denouncing alleged crackdowns on outspoken web activists by the authorities.

Kareem is also mentioned in the article:

In January this year, Alexandrian student blogger Kareem Amer was sentenced to four years in prison for defaming Islam and President Mubarak on his internet blog.

We would like to correct the above statement by reminding everyone that Kareem was actually sentenced officially on February 22 of this year. His case remains to be a powerful example of a grave attack against freedom of speech in Egypt.

Read the full article on the Daily Star here.

Dear readers,

For those of you who requested it, below you will find an English translation of Kareem’s 2nd letter from prison, which he wrote in November 13, 2006. You may read the first translated letter here.

Translation credit: Dalia Ziada.

Message from Behind prison walls (#2)

I have been detained for a whole week now. I expected this since long time ago. Usually, I expect the worst in order no to be shocked and subsequently collapse. I can say that I was in high spirits along this period. I did not feel the time passing despite the rarity of entertainment and time-wasting tools. I did my best to waste time by talking to those around me and giving hope to desperate ones. I also read some of the newspapers sent to some prisoners. It is noteworthy that I am the only person detained for a speech case in the whole prison. Most of the accusations range from robbery – all types of robbery – and drug traffic. This made me feel distinguished, despite this means nothing in a prison. In prison, all are equally suffering. Probably my fate is much worse than those colleagues who got accustomed with staying in such places!

The place of provisional detention, where I exist, in Moharram Beik Police station is divided into two floors. The higher floor contains a room for political detainees transferred by State Security Bureau. In the lower floor (underground), there are four rooms; two rooms are for provisional detention upon public prosecution resolution, one room for women, and another room for the prisoners sentenced by the court and awaiting transformation to their final prison.

I spent one whole week in one of the provisional detention rooms before I had – yesterday – to move to the second room, after I suffered many difficulties in dealing with colleague prisoners. They behave in barbarian way, do not respect the privacy of others, and interfere in others’ affairs. I had to limit the amounts of food I take per meal to avoid going to the very dirty bathroom. That is not only because of being unsuitable for human usage, but also because there is no lock to close it when I get in. It is not weird to find more than one person using the bathroom at the same moment. In the very little times I use it, I had to ask some colleague to stand close to the door and prevent any one from getting in until I finish. Apparently, this provoked sarcasm to the extent that they decided to mock me and laugh at me with no regard to my reaction at all. Once I got in the bathroom, I found two others trying to open the door in spite of my will. I could not help screaming until they stopped and closed the door again. I got out of the bathroom with great anger, particularly that I realized that person I asked to stand close the door conspired with them. Therefore, I had to move to the other room, which is much calmer as it includes only ten detainees in comparison to more than thirty in the other room.

I write these words while a sunbeam is stealthily moving into the small calm room that I am staying in now. In the other room, we can only tell what time is by looking at our watches. I spend the whole night yesterday waiting to know if the morning has come. It seems that the sole sunbeam is going to disappear too. It already disappeared. However, the barbed window overlooking on the wide space will tell me the time passing and the time remaining. I missed this in the other room that looks like a mass grave where people are buried alive.

During the last week, I got out of prison twice. The first one was when I went to renovation session. The judge ordered me to be imprisoned for additional fifteen days. The other one was when my name was enlisted among the prisoners to be transformed to Gharbiniat prison in Borg El-Arab. In the last time, we carried our luggage and they packed us in a vehicle with other dozens of prisoners from other police stations. The road took more than one hour before we eventually reach Gharbiniat prison.

We got into prison in a general inhuman atmosphere and insult. We were forced to get undressed except for hiding our body molestation, to process the routine medical examinations. An officer called me and asked me about my accusations. Once I told him, he asked me to wear my civil clothes again in order to be returned to Moharram Beik police station in transformation vehicle.

I saw with my eyes, at that day, how the incoming prisoners are treated. They are insulted severely and some times they are beaten by plastic sticks that make bloody signs on their bodies. It seemed to me like driving a group of sheep to their prisons. This can be a suitable way to deal with humans. It is true that they are guilty. Yet, this does not mean that they are not humans.

I will be seen by the renovation judge on Wednesday 22/11. I am not sure that I will be released or transformed to trial and subsequently face imprisonment. Anyway, I am not afraid of the consequences. I did not commit some regrettable mistake. On the contrary, I am so proud of what I did. No power on Earth can force me to retreat or surrender. I always ask myself when I feel depressed: what did they take from me to regret losing it? Their absolute stupidity made them believe that they took my freedom away because I expressed my views. Did they gave us our freedom from the beginning so they can take it now? Egypt is simply a large prison; I can move with some more freedom within its borders. Yet, this is not the freedom I seek. Instead, I am working on crashing the restrictions of my thought and speech. The most powerful man on earth may not take them away from me unless by killing me.

Here I quote the magical expression of the Egyptian novelist, Ne’amat El-Behiery whom I wish to be cured soon from the monster attacking her body. I quote: “I am not sad. I do not see my self as a piece of meat all what it cares for is to fulfill its sensual needs and animalistic instincts, in order to reproduce my rage into a deficit freedom.”

To all those who support me in my crisis: I wish I can pay your favor back. I owe you many favors, which I will not forget as long as I live.

To my beloved Sahar: When I remember you and your sufferings with the patriarchal society and your patience and persistence to cause some changed in your society, I become more and more strong and I have great hope to cause a general change in the world around me.

To my dear friend Sara: They will not crash me from within as you imagine. Just remember that the strike that will not kill you, will definitely strengthen you.

I end up my letter with hope that it can be published as soon as possible. That is only if I was lucky and some one of my friends visits me soon in this prison.

Abdul Kareem Nabeil Suliman
Monday 13/11/2006
From the civil prison of Moharram Beik Police Station

[Read the letter in Arabic here.]

Click here to download the letter in word document. A PDF version of the letter for printing purposes is also available.

Previous Letters:

● Letter #1
Date written: November 8, 2006
Original (Arabic): HTML
English translation: HTML (Translated by Ismail El-Naggar)

● Letter #2 (in Arabic)
English translation: HTML, PDF
Date written: November 13, 2006 (Translated by Dalia Ziada)

● Letter #3 (in Arabic)
Date written: November 24, 2006

We hope to receive more letters from Kareem shortly.

Kareem’s case was recently featured on Scoop by way of an Amnesty press release.

Putting The Boot Into Internet Repression -

Students will be mobilising their communities to seek the release of two cyber-dissidents: – Chinese journalist Shi Tao, currently serving 10 years in prison for sending an e-mail from his Yahoo! Account. (Yahoo! supplied information to the Chinese government that helped to convict Shi Tao.) – Egyptian student blogger Abdel Kareem Soliman (pseudonym Kareem Amer), imprisoned this year for writing a blog criticizing his university and the Egyptian President.

“Amnesty’s worldwide campaign against internet repression, ‘Irrepressible.info’, is a perfect match for our irrepressible students,” says Margaret Taylor. “They are already planning a range of innovative and powerful events, including an action based on rock-climbing and an attempt to symbolically overcome the ‘great firewall of Chin’ that Chinese authorities are erecting around the internet in their country.”

Read the full press release here.

A mutual friend who blogs at Wa7damasrya visited Kareem yesterday.

She writes (translation):

Finally I managed to visit Kareem Amer (or Abdul Kareem Nabil) in Burj Al Arab prison which is about 20km far from Alexandria. I was there by 9 AM and I was done with the visit at 4 PM, and I wasn’t able to sit with Kareem and talk to him for more than 30 minutes.

[...]

It goes without a doubt that I’m happy to have successfully visited him, especially today since it’s his birthday.

She expresses her irritation with the over-zealous prison guards and says that this was a hard but a necessary experience for her:

It was a horrible experience for me and I couldn’t stop thinking that it was hard for me to be there for few hours. I don’t know how Kareem can manage there for more than 6 months already.

She also notes that Kareem is apparently being mistreated by prison guards:

He told me that last time at the court, a policeman beat him hard and filmed it with his mobile. A few days later, he [Kareem] sent a letter to his lawyer (Gamal Eid) asking him to publish a part of the story in a newspaper. The prison administration woke him up at 2 am to investigate him on what was published on that newspaper. They left him standing for 3 hours – from 5 AM to 8 AM. Then those guys in plain clothes were there with sticks of wood beating prisoners to go back to their cells.

In her e-mail to us, Shahi writes:

I told Kareem that the Free Kareem campaign people are doing a good job for him and that they are increasing pressure on the Egyptian regime. I told him that this pressure is very important.

She also shares our concern that Kareem may not be receiving all of the letters sent to him. It’s possible that his own letters aren’t successfully reaching us either.

Perhaps the highlight of her visit is the following explanation she provides:

He is fine but of course not happy and he has great hope in us who are outside to help him get his freedom again, he really wants that and depends on us for it.

We are Kareem’s only hope for freedom. We hope that his worldwide supporters realize this and will continue to put their efforts in him knowing this:

I left Kareem telling him to be strong and to know that we are all here for him.

On a final note, thank you Shahi for being such a great friend and for contacting us regarding your visit to Kareem. It means a lot that despite how troubling it is to meet him, you did it anyways and are still willing to do it again. This is the kind of support that Kareem really needs.

Today Kareem turns 23. We made this video to help spread awareness and to also make people realize that Kareem really deserves all the help and support that he can get! Do join us in this struggle. Contact us to see what you can do.

To help lift his spirits up, we strongly encourage everyone to send supportive letters and birthday cards to the address posted here. Please and thank you!

The 17th of June marks Kareem’s 23rd birthday.

Here are the list of things that we want him to get for his birthday.

1. Clothes (between medium and large – Kareem is around 5’6 or 5’7 tall.)

2. Writing materials

3. Books (be careful with your selection, and remember that prison guards will see it before Kareem does. Therefore it’s very important to select something that will not trouble him.)

4. Food / sweets

5. Blanket

6. Postcards and birthday cards

7. Letters!

Please send any of the above to the address posted here.

Send an eCard and spread the word!

Diana Mukkaled writes a very interesting piece featured in this week’s Asharq Alawsat, one of the most widely read newspapers in the Middle East, expressing her admiration for the likes of Kareem who are brave enough to blog where they have no freedom to:

Despite various crackdowns on bloggers in which they were subjected to bans, physical assault, detention and a four-year sentence in the case of blogger Abdel Karim Suleiman bloggers can pride themselves in knowing that their efforts have begun to bear fruit. Still, the road up ahead is a long one that is full of challenging obstacles.

Let us closely examine the vast outlet that the Internet provides, and how that matter has become one that concerns and disturbs various governments and states, which did not stop at blocking websites and furthermore sentenced bloggers to long prison terms.

Read article in full.

According to today’s Telegraph:

[Amnesty] cited research by an academic study group, the Open Net Initiative, that at least 25 national governments employed filtering technology for censorship.

They included Iran, Burma, and Saudi Arabia but also western-oriented democracies such as India and South Korea.

It also highlighted the fate of Abdul Kareem Nabeel Suleiman, a 22-year-old Egyptian blogger, who was sentenced to four years imprisonment in February.

You may read the full article here.

This wouldn’t be happening if we continue to stand up against this injustice and initiate campaigns such as this one directed to free victims of censorship.

Please visit this campaign as well, where we help our Chinese friends to free 4 unfortunate victims of China’s many crimes against free speech.